Heating device in an iron and relative iron

ABSTRACT

Heating device for an iron ( 11 ) provided with an ironing plate ( 12 ), comprising at least a plurality of irradiation lamps ( 16 ), which are disposed in cooperation with a first portion ( 12   a ) of the ironing plate ( 12 ), in order to irradiate a luminous radiation toward a fabric ( 30 ) in correspondence with the first portion ( 12   a ) of the ironing plate ( 12 ). The heating device comprises localized heating means ( 20 ) of the reflection type disposed in optical communication with the irradiation lamps ( 16 ) through a radiation window ( 19 ), and oriented so as to direct at least part of the radiations emitted by the irradiation lamps ( 16 ) toward a second portion ( 12   b ) of the ironing plate ( 12 ), different from the first portion ( 12   a ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a heating device in an iron, the latterprovided with an ironing plate and used for ironing garments or fabricsin general. In particular, the heating device according to the presentinvention is of the irradiation type and has localized heating means toincrease the heating temperature in correspondence with parts of theironing plate that are not directly associated with the source thatgenerates the heat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Irons are known, both of the electric type or steam, used for ironingfabrics and provided with an ironing plate, which is made and conformedso as to try to optimize the sliding of the iron on the fabric to beironed.

Irons are also known in which the fabric to be ironed, and/or theironing plate, are heated to a desired working temperature by means ofan irradiation heating device.

Known irradiation heating devices normally comprise a plurality ofinfrared lamps disposed inside the iron.

Although these known solutions give good heating and heat yield, theyhave an irradiation action that is substantially localized on adeterminate zone of the lower surface of the ironing plate, directlyfacing the lamps, causing dis-uniform temperatures in the zonescorresponding to the end parts of the plate that cannot directly facethe lamps.

This causes a reduced efficiency for ironing in difficult areas, such asfor example the collars and cuffs of shirts, lapels or other, which arenormally ironed with the tip of the plate.

Possible solutions with auxiliary, expanded or supplementary heatingdevices are not justified either with regard to the production costs, orto energy consumption.

One purpose of the present invention is to achieve a heating device foran iron which is simple and economical to make and which allows toensure localized heating also in correspondence with parts of the platenot directly facing the lamps, so as to guarantee the possibility ofironing the fabrics efficiently even when using said parts.

The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention toovercome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain theseand other purposes and advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independentclaims, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of theinvention or variants to the main inventive idea.

In accordance with the above purpose, a heating device according to thepresent invention is applied to an iron, in cooperation with the ironingplate of the iron.

The heating device comprises at least a plurality of irradiation lampswhich are disposed in cooperation with a first portion of the ironingplate so as to irradiate a luminous radiation toward a correspondingheating zone of the ironing plate and therefore toward the fabric to beironed.

According to a characteristic feature of the present invention, theheating device comprises localized heating means of the reflection typedisposed in optical communication with the irradiation lamps through aradiation window, and oriented so as to direct at least part of theradiations emitted by the lamps toward another portion of the ironingplate, different from the first portion and not directly facing thelamp.

In this way, with the same irradiation lamps it is possible to irradiateat least one portion of the ironing plate not heated directly by thelamps, and even to uniformly cover, if necessary, substantially thewhole lower surface of the plate.

With the present invention, for example, it is possible to selectivelyconvey the radiations irradiated by the lamps to the zone of the tip ofthe ironing plate, even if the tip does not have its own lamps directlyassociated.

Therefore, an iron provided with a heating device according to thepresent invention has all the advantages of irradiation heating, alsousing lamps, and at the same time allows to heat substantially the wholeironing plate, and is therefore efficient for ironing difficult zones.

The invention is applied advantageously to an iron which, incorrespondence with certain portions of the ironing plate, at the tip,at the end or at the sides, has auxiliary devices that prevent andimpede the positioning of specific heating elements. The auxiliarydevices may be, for example, nozzles for spraying steam, water oradditives, cooling elements, ventilators etc., some examples of whichare described in parallel patent applications in the name of the presentApplicant.

According to a variant, the zone of the plate heated by reflection isinclined with respect to the zone subjected to direct heating so as toassume, during use, a position normally not in contact with the fabricto be ironed.

This inclined condition allows, on the one hand, a better lead-in to thefabric to be ironed, and on the other hand the possibility of incliningthe iron, when necessary, to take only this zone into contact with thefabric so as to effect particular ironing operations.

In the particular condition in which the zone not directly heatedcorresponds to the tip of the ironing plate, the possibility ofinclining the iron allows to promote the maneuverability of the iron inironing difficult zones, such as the collars, lapels, parts near thebuttons or others, guaranteeing in any case the correct heatingtemperature even at the tip, due to the effect of the reflection means.

Furthermore, by inclining the iron to allow the tip of the plate to berested on the fabric, a different ironing pressure is applied whichallows to obtain improved results.

According to a variant, the reflection means comprise at least a mirrorsurface disposed on at least one side with respect to the irradiationlamps and disposed inclined both with respect to the normal direction ofirradiation and also with respect to the ironing plate, so as to directpart of the radiations emitted by the infrared lamps toward the desiredposition of the ironing plate, not directly facing the lamps.

This variant solution is particularly simplified and economical to make.

According to another variant, in which the radiations of the irradiationlamps are conveyed toward the tip of the ironing plate, the reflectionmeans comprise two mirror surfaces disposed adjacent to each other, andeach is disposed with an edge adjacent to a relative edge of the plate,in correspondence with the tip of the latter, so as to define areflection compartment with a substantially pyramid conformation.

With this variant solution, a grid of reflected radiations is defined,guaranteeing a greater uniformity of reflection of the radiations on thetip of the ironing plate.

According to another variant, the irradiation lamps are disposed insidea relative housing compartment made inside the iron. In this variantsolution the radiation window is made so as to put the housingcompartment into optical communication with the reflection compartment,or with the mirror surface or surfaces of the reflection means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other characteristics of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description of a preferential form ofembodiment, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to theattached drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 shows schematically a lateral view, partly in section, of an ironin which a heating device according to the present invention is mounted;

FIG. 2 shows schematically a view from below of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows schematically a view of the iron in FIG. 1, in a differentoperating condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERENTIAL FORM OF EMBODIMENT

With reference to the attached drawings, a heating device 10 accordingto the present invention is applied to an iron 11, which is providedwith an ironing plate 12 for ironing a fabric 30.

In particular, the ironing plate 12 has a substantially pointed shapeand is made of material with a vitreous base, such as for exampleglass-ceramic, which has transparent characteristics, that is, it is amaterial through which light radiations can pass through the whole ofits thickness.

The heating device 10 comprises a plurality of irradiation lamps,advantageously infrared 16 of the halogen type, disposed in cooperationwith a first central portion 12 a of the ironing plate 12, to emit adesired quantity of heat through a lower surface 15 of the ironing plate12.

In this case, the infrared lamps 16 are operatively disposed in adesired conformation inside a housing compartment 17, made inside theiron 11.

The lamps 16 thus occupy a limited part with respect to the surface ofthe ironing plate 12, while the remaining zones, the tip and the end,are not associated with heating sources, so that auxiliary devices suchas nozzles, ventilators etc. may be disposed in correspondence withthem.

The housing compartment 17 has a window 19, substantially triangular inshape, which defines an optical aperture of the housing compartment 17.In this case, the window 19 comprises a transparent glass and is opentoward a zone 12 b of the tip of the ironing plate 12.

The heating device 10 also comprises two mirror surfaces 20, disposedfacing the window 19, outside the housing compartment 17, so as tocapture a part of the infrared radiations emitted by the infrared lamps16 and passing through the window 19.

The two minor surfaces 20 are substantially triangular in shape and eachcomprise a first edge 21 adjacent to a corresponding first edge 21 ofthe adjacent mirror surface 20, a second edge 22 disposed adjacent to arelative edge of the ironing plate 12, in correspondence with the tip ofthe latter, and a third edge 23 disposed adjacent to a correspondinglateral edge of the window 19.

In this way a reflection compartment 25 is defined between the twomirror surfaces 20, the window 19 and the zone of the tip 12 b of theironing plate 12.

In this case, the reflection compartment 25 is substantially tetrahedralin shape.

In this conformation, each mirror surface 20 assumes a determinateinclination with respect to the zone of the tip 12 b of the ironingplate 12, so that the radiations captured through the window 19 arereflected on the zone of the tip 12 b, at different inclinations, so asto provide a uniform distribution of the radiations on the zone of thetip 12 b of the ironing plate 12.

In this case, the zone of the tip 12 b is inclined by a determinateangle α with respect to the central zone 12 a.

This inclination allows to keep the zone of the tip 12 b normallyseparate from the fabric 30, so as to define a lead-in for ironing thefabric.

Furthermore, the inclination of the zone of the tip 12 b with respect tothe central zone 12 a allows a different ironing mode (FIG. 3), in whichthe fabric 30 is contacted and ironed only by the zone of the tip 12 bheated by the reflection actuated by the mirror surfaces 20.

In this operating condition it is possible to use effectively andexclusively only one specific zone 12 b of the lower surface 15 of theironing plate 12, improving the ironing conditions, in particular indifficult zones, such as collars, cuffs, lapels or others.

It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made tothe heating device 10 and the iron 11 as described heretofore, withoutdeparting from the field and scope of the present invention.

For example, it comes within the field of the present invention toprovide that the mirror surfaces 20 and the window 19 are conformed anddisposed to reflect the infrared radiations in the direction of anotherzone of the ironing plate 12, not directly irradiated by the infraredlamps 16 as happens for the central zone 12 a.

For example, the mirror surfaces 20 and the window 19 can be conformedto reflect the infrared radiations toward a rear zone, or toward one ormore side zones, or different combinations of the zone of the tip 12 band other zones of the ironing plate 12.

It is also clear that, although the present invention has been describedwith reference to some specific examples, a person of skill in the artshall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms ofheating device in an iron, and relative iron, having the characteristicsas set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field ofprotection defined thereby.

1. Heating device in an iron provided with an ironing plate, comprisingat least a plurality of irradiation lamps, which are disposed incooperation with a first portion of said ironing plate, in order toirradiate a luminous radiation toward a fabric in correspondence withsaid first portion of said ironing plate, and reflection means disposedin optical communication with said irradiation lamps through a radiationwindow, and oriented so as to direct at least part of radiations emittedby said irradiation lamps toward a second portion of the ironing plate,different from said first portion.
 2. Heating device as in claim 1,wherein the reflection means comprise at least a mirror surface disposedon at least one side with respect to the irradiation lamps and inclinedboth with respect to the normal direction of irradiation and withrespect to the ironing plate.
 3. Heating device as in claim 1, whereinthe reflection means comprise two mirror surfaces disposed adjacent toeach other, each of reflection means being disposed with an edgeadjacent to a relative edge of the ironing plate, in correspondence withthe second portion heated by reflection, so as to define a reflectioncompartment.
 4. Heating device as in claim 3, wherein the irradiationlamps are disposed inside a relative housing compartment inside the ironand in optical communication with the reflection compartment through theradiation window.
 5. Heating device as in claim 1, wherein the secondportion of the ironing plate heated by reflection by the reflectionmeans is inclined with respect to the first portion subjected to directheating, so as to assume, during use, a position normally not in contactwith a fabric to be ironed.
 6. Iron comprising an ironing plate, acompartment situated adjacent to said ironing plate in correspondencewith a first portion thereof to house heating means of the irradiationtype, and a heating device of the reflection type comprising reflectionmeans oriented to direct at least part of the radiations emitted by saidheating means toward at least a second portion of said ironing plate,different from said first portion.
 7. Iron as in claim 6, furthercomprising nozzles for spraying in correspondence with said secondportion of the ironing plate.
 8. Iron as in claim 6, further comprisingfans in correspondence with said second portion of the ironing plate.